Sources said the explosive substance was found between Model Burail Jail, Sector 51, and Sargodha Housing Society, Sector 51. (Express) A team from the National Security Guard (NSG) in Delhi has reached Chandigarh to defuse the explosive device found in a bag near the boundary wall of the high-security Model Burail Jail in Chandigarh on Saturday night.
The police had earlier alerted central agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau, about the abandoned bag which contained a box along with a codex wire and explosives weighing around 250 grams. “An NSG team has arrived. The defusing work has started. The team was called in for defusing the explosive and to ascertain its nature. The help of Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Sector 36 will also be taken,” a senior police officer said.
The bag was noticed by a police team which noticed a burning codex wire near the jail’s wall. As the team doused the fire, they saw the abandoned bag. A member of the police team which first rushed to the spot said, “As we spotted the abandoned bag and a tiffin-shaped object, we decided to stay away. We alerted senior officers. The Army was informed. In the presence of Army personnel, the substance was examined and it turned out to be an explosive.”
“There are multiple layers of boundary walls, the first of which is located right near the barracks where the jail inmates are lodged. The explosive substances were found outside the last boundary wall of the jail. From the rear, where the explosive device was found, there are three more boundary walls before one can access the barracks in which inmates are lodged. As per our assessment, the recovered explosive was not powerful enough to reach the barracks. We have still beefed up the security cover of the jail,” a senior jail officer said earlier.
Meanwhile, local residents travelling between Mohali and Chandigarh were inconvenienced as all roads around the jail in Sector 51 were cordoned off and the movement of the general public was restricted since Saturday night in view of the security threat. Traffic cops were also deputed to divert vehicles via alternative routes.
Officials said that the area around Model Burail Jail was highly sensitive, with the prison housing around 1,000 convicts — prominent among them being Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) Jagtar Singh Tara, who is serving a life sentence for his involvement in the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. The regional headquarters of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is also located inside the jail’s premises.
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